The Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) treats all languages as equal, but the effort required to get an A* in English versus an A* in Mother Tongue is wildly disproportionate. Many students sacrifice their Mother Tongue to save their math or science scores. The PDFs associated with this query often contain tear-stained diary entries about the PSLE results day.
Adrian felt a pang of guilt. He had viewed his Chinese lessons as an academic burden, a grade to be achieved. He hadn't realized that to his grandfather’s generation, this wasn't just homework. It was a desperate attempt to anchor a drifting ship. They were terrified that in the pursuit of economic survival (English), they would lose their moral compass and cultural identity (Mother Tongue). my lifelong challenge singapore 39-s bilingual journey pdf